Archive for February, 2008

Windows Mobile 6.1: Changing the System Font & Adding Korean Support

Published by
Demosthenes
at February 16, 2008 in How To's and Windows Mobile. 122 Comments

AT&T 8525There are some incredibly complicated instructions on the internet for changing your system font to something pretty — like Segoe UI, the new default font in Microsoft Vista. There are similarly complicated instructions for adding Korean language support to your WM6 device as well. After a few hours of tinkering, these are the only modifications you need to accomplish the following:

1) Change the system font to Segoe UI. 2) Support the reading of Korean filenames using the Malgun font.

.Reg File Based Installation

One of the readers of this article, Dragon042, was kind enough to create a .reg file which automatically makes the registry changes I’ve documented in this article for Korean support using XP fonts. Download here. Copy gulim.ttc into your Windows folder and run the .reg file.

Instructions for Windows Vista Fonts:

Copy segoeui.ttf, segoeuib.ttf, and malgun.ttf to the Windows folder of your Windows Mobile 6 device. These files can be found in the Windows\Fonts directory of your Vista installation.

Add the following registry keys:

[HKLM/Software/Microsoft/FontLink/SystemLink]
Segoe UI = \windows\malgun.ttf,Malgun Gothic
Tahoma = \windows\malgun.ttf,Malgun Gothic

*Note that there are no quotation marks used anywhere.

[HKLM/System/GDI]
FontLinkMethods = 1

[HKLM/System/GDI/SYSFNT]
Nm = Segoe UI

[HKLM/System/GDI/FontAlias]
Tahoma = Segoe UI

Use the below instructions to accomplish the following: 1) Keep the default font to Tahoma. 2) Support the reading of Korean filenames using the Windows XP Gulim font.

Instructions for Korean Support using only Windows XP Fonts:

Copy gulim.ttc to the Windows folder of your Windows Mobile 6 device. These files can be found in the Windows\Fonts directory of your Windows XP installation.

Add the following registry keys:

[HKLM/Software/Microsoft/FontLink/SystemLink]
Tahoma = \windows\gulim.ttc,Gulim

*Note that there are no quotation marks used anywhere.

[HKLM/System/GDI]
FontLinkMethods = 1

[HKLM/System/GDI/SYSFNT]
Nm = Gulim

[HKLM/System/GDI/FontAlias]
Tahoma = Gulim

Perform a soft reboot and you should be all set. If you have problems, make sure that the case and spacing of the keys you entered exactly match the above.

Explanation:

FontLink keys essentially extend a Western/Roman font to include non-Roman fonts. By enabling Font Linking as documented above, you enable WM6 to search for Korean characters in the Segoe UI AND Malgun font sets. Inevitably, the operating system will find the correct Korean characters in Malgun.ttf and render them on your screen. The references below document additional registry keys in WM6, but the instructions above are sufficient.

References:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa911441.aspx
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa911449.aspx

If you have a HTC Fuze aka Touch Pro and want to enable Korean fonts in TouchFlo, see my directions here.